De Zerbi apologises after Newcastle's 2-0 win leaves Spurs bottom despite £320m summer spend

Roberto De Zerbi has apologised to Tottenham supporters after a 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle on Saturday left Spurs rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table, with two losses from two games despite a £320m summer outlay.

Yoane Wissa and Anthony Elanga were on the scoresheet as Newcastle came away from north London with a comfortable win, compounding the damage done by last week’s opening-day loss to Brentford. It is a wretched start for De Zerbi, who only took charge this summer after Spurs narrowly avoided relegation last season.

“We will not panic,” De Zerbi said. “I know very well where we are going, what the plan is and what difficult problems we could find in our way. I am sorry for the fans and sorry for the players for the result, but we have to improve — and to change two seasons like the last two is impossible in 10 days and with people in the transfer market.”

The Italian head coach acknowledged the scale of the task he inherited but urged patience, drawing on the survival fight of last term. “Last season before the end of the season we were in the Championship and we stayed up together,” he said. “Now we have to keep calm and focus on improvement. We have a great squad and great players. If the rush is more important than the journey we can’t find the solutions to the last two seasons.”

Despite the scoreline, De Zerbi maintained that Spurs were the better side for long stretches and called the result unfair. “Disappointed for the result because until the first goal we conceded I think we played better than Newcastle,” he told BBC Sport. “We lost ball possession in the first half because we didn’t defend in the right way — the distance between the defenders and attackers was too big. We can improve in the defensive phases but today was an unfair result.”

He also asked supporters to set aside the scoreline and trust the process, insisting the club’s direction is clear even if the early evidence is difficult to stomach. Tottenham’s home form, which was a persistent problem throughout last season, has now carried over into the new campaign — a concern De Zerbi will need to address quickly as the pressure of a high-profile rebuild begins to mount.